A Plague: The Black Death, By Rosemary Horrox

1314 Words3 Pages

The Black Death is one of the deadliest epidemics to ever hit mankind. It is estimated that this epidemic killed nearly 30%-60% of the population depending on the location. Recently, scholars have argued over the existence of the Black Death as a Plague in the form of Yersinia Pestis. Many argue, through scientific research and primary sources, that the Black Death was indeed a plague. Their critics argue that there is not enough evidence in the correlation of the scientific research and the primary sources to conclude that the Black Death was really a plague. The primary source The Black Death, by Rosemary Horrox, is a compilation of different accounts of the plague throughout Europe in the 1300’s. The two modern sources Plague Historians …show more content…

Many people of this time thought the Plague arrived due to their sins as accounted by Gabriele de’ Mussis. “I pronounce these judgment: may your joys be turned to mourning, your prosperity be shaken by adversity, the course of your life be passed in never ending terror…no one will be given rest, poisoned arrows will strike everyone, fevers will throw down the proud, and incurable disease will strike like lightning” This quote reveals that God imposed the plague onto the people and they had to suffer due to their sins. In another section of this book, there is an excerpt from Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron. In it he describes the symptoms the people in the city of Florence suffered due to this disease. “It’s earliest symptom, in men and women alike, was the appearance of certain swellings in the groin or the armpit, some of which were egg shaped while some where the size of a common apple…Later on…people began to find dark botches and bruises on their arms, thighs, and other parts of the body” This source is one of many found in Horrox’s book that all list the same symptoms for this mysterious disease throughout all of …show more content…

How did the disease travel so quickly if humans could only survive from the disease a maximum of a week? The answer is rats and flies. In Rats, Communications, and Plague: Toward an Ecological History, by Michael McCormick, McCormick talks about the rat and how it was so influential in the spread of the disease specifically the Rattus rattus. The rattus rattus is the black rat or ship rat that was responsible for the rapid spread of the plague. The rat would be a host to flies, which carried the disease. “Rats were particularly dangerous “amplifying” hosts because of their productivity to associate with humans and the ability of their blood to withstand enormous concentrations of the plague bacillus.” This allowed ample time for the fly to survive on the living rat as they where moved. Rats are not known for their ability to move quickly. They were most likely transported around Europe by way of ship. “Rattus rattus affinity for ships is well known. Most (forty-seven or 72 percent) Roman rat finds occur within 10km of sea coasts or river banks” This proves that it was possible for the rat to be the host of the virus as they moved with their ship. Once the rat died of the disease, the fly would fly to its next victim who was most likely a human. This is how the disease spread so quickly throughout

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